2 years ago
THE PFA Premier League Team of the Year has been announced - with runners-up Liverpool dominating the star-studded XI.
Jurgen Klopp's Reds fell agonisingly short in a thrilling final day of the 2021-22 season, ultimately coming up one point - and just a matter of minutes - short.
The Anfield side played superbly all season - and their squad has been rewarded with no fewer than SIX stars making the campaign's best XI.
Alisson edged out Ederson to a spot between the sticks, with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane - set to quit Liverpool and join Bayern Munich - two-thirds of a star-studded front three.
Thiago was named in the heart of a midfield trio, while defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk also got the nod in the XI.
They join ex-Chelsea star Antonio Rudiger - who has now moved to Real Madrid on a free transfer - and Joao Cancelo in the back-four.
Man City duo Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva join Thiago in midfield.
And Cristiano Ronaldo jumps straight back into the PFA Premier League Team of the Year at the first attempt after returning to Manchester United in September.
Meanwhile, Salah also won the PFA Premier League Player of the Year award for a second time, with City and England whiz Phil Foden winning the Young Player of the Year gong for the second year running.
Salah shared the Golden Boot with Son Heung-min - who joins Harry Kane in missing out on the XI despite a stellar year - after scoring 23 goals last term.
The Egyptian star joins Mark Hughes, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin de Bruyne as the only stars to win the award more than once.
On his reward for a fine season, Liverpool ace Salah said: “It’s a great honour to win a trophy, individual or collective and this one is big so, very happy and very proud of that.
"This one is a really good one to win, especially because it’s voted by players.
"It shows you that you’ve worked really hard and you get what you worked for.
"I have my room with trophies in a cabinet and I made sure that I had another space for one more.
"I always keep space and just try to imagine that the trophies are going to come.”
Salah added: “When you get older, you feel like you’re more stable and you know exactly what you want from football so I’m just trying to really chill and help the team.
"That’s why I think I also won the playmaker because it’s like you’re more aware of the game, so you just try to make the people next to you better and try to make yourself better as well.”
Meanwhile, Foden follows Ryan Giggs, Robbie Fowler, Wayne Rooney and Dele Alli in winning back-to-back PFA Premier League Young Player of the Year awards.
On his win, the attacking midfielder said: “I'm really honoured to be honest, especially to win it back-to-back, it shows that I've come a long way this year with the consistency of my game.
"I’m really pleased to win it again.
"All the best players in the world have got to show consistency and keep performing at the higher level, and this year I've just tried to do that and try and help my team as much as possible.
"I’ve been really happy with my performances this year.
"Hopefully I can win the main award in the future, but it’s all about taking small steps and improving.
"I always love winning individual awards, it’s just nice to look at and see how far you've come so, yeah, I’m really pleased.”
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